


Blackbird, Fly

by KareliaSweet



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: M/M, Old Age, Tissue Warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 08:25:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6650071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KareliaSweet/pseuds/KareliaSweet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>He blinks again and sees the dragonfly as it was. Will’s design, perfect, as it was meant to be seen.</i>
</p><p>Will takes Hannibal to see the tableau he left for him at the Lecter Estate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blackbird, Fly

“Beautiful.”

The dragonfly hangs there, frozen in time. Shards of its wings glint in the candlelight.

“All these years you described it to me,” Hannibal says, “I pictured it so many times, but this,” he turns to see Will smiling beside him, “this is a masterpiece.”

Will’s eyes crinkle at the corners, cutting deep grooves into his weathered face. He tucks a silver curl behind his ear. “I’m glad you think so.”

Hannibal circles it appraisingly. “How did you keep it so well preserved?”

“I didn’t,” Will replies.

Hannibal tilts his chin in puzzlement, directing a questioning eyebrow Will’s way. Will jerks his head in a nod back towards his creation. Hannibal looks again and sees the decades of decay, the chipped and broken snail shells, the sunken eyes and rotting skin.

No. He blinks again and sees the dragonfly as it was. Will’s design, perfect, as it was meant to be seen.

“Better, yeah?”

Hannibal nods. His right knee twinges and with a minute wince he stops pacing, leaning both hands on his cane.

“Careful, old man,” Will jabs warmly, “I didn’t take you all this way for your creaky joints to spoil the fun.”

“I do not _creak_ ,” Hannibal protests.

Will gives him a fond look. “Sure you don’t.” Hannibal is still staring up at the dragonfly, transfixed.

“You really like it?” Will’s voice is delicate and unsure. It sounds decades younger than it should.

Hannibal leans heavier on his cane and smiles, the wrinkles at his mouth gathering like the fanned legs of a spider. Will reaches out and traces them, lets his hand slip to stroke the wisps of Hannibal’s fine, snowy hair. Hannibal preens contentedly into the touch, as he always does, eyelids fluttering. When he opens his eyes again properly, Will is standing at his side, hands tucked behind his back. He is worrying his lip between his teeth, the muscles of his cheek drawn taut under the smooth, perfect skin.

The perfect, scarless skin.

Hannibal turns away, eyes trained back on the tableau.

“How long have you been dead, Will?”

Will examines his palms. He releases his lip with a resigned sigh, and after a lengthy pause, answers.

“About a year. A little less.”

“Oh,” Hannibal says quietly. “Was I there?”

Will gives his arm a squeeze. “Of course you were. You buried me.”

Regret wells thick in Hannibal’s throat. “We took too long to come here.”

“Nah,” Will tells him, “we were busy living.”

“But I wanted to see this _with_ you.”

Will touches his elbow, nudges his shoulder with his own. “And you are.”

Hannibal sighs. “It’s not the same.”

A soft, young hand takes up his, knotting their fingers together.

“It is,” Will assures him. “I was here at its creation, I saw it then. You see it now. So.”

His thumb rubs gentle circles between the bony notches of Hannibal’s knuckles. The dragonfly sways, ropes creaking. Hannibal turns to look at Will’s unmarred profile.

“Did it hurt?”

Will meets his gaze. “When I died? No. It was peaceful. You held me.”

Hannibal nods thoughtfully. “I remember now.”

“You usually do, eventually.”

“And when I don’t?”

Will rumbles a chuckle in his throat. “Doesn’t hurt me not to be dead.”

Hannibal allows himself a small laugh at that. A patch of breeze trickles between them, ruffling the candlelight.

“Was it worth it?” Hannibal asks.

Will scoffs. “That’s a loaded question. And a stupid one, too.” He elbows Hannibal carefully in his side. “I wouldn’t have stayed for thirty-four years if I hadn’t thought it was worth it.”

Hannibal considers this approvingly. “Good. I’m glad I thought so.”

“ _You_ thought so?” Will huffs and the corner of his mouth twists in a grin. He crosses back into Hannibal’s field of vision and takes his face between his hands.

“You think I only exist up here?” He taps Hannibal’s temple gently with one finger then shakes his head, resting their foreheads together.

“No, Hannibal,” Will whispers. “We didn’t spend a lifetime sharing a memory palace without things taking root. I’m still here.”

Then he kisses Hannibal’s lips and it’s just a little too imperfect not to be real. He kisses Hannibal the way he first did, tentative, earnest, and warm. Hannibal sighs and holds Will’s hands to his face hard enough to feel his fingerprints.

Behind them, the dragonfly shudders.

“This was beautiful,” Hannibal says between them, his breathing growing laboured. He holds his mouth to Will’s brow. “Thank you.”

Will’s arms coil around him. One hand strokes, splayed, up his back and grips the nape of his neck.

“I didn’t say it then. I won’t say it now. But you know I—"

“I know,” Hannibal assures him. His nose snuffs into the sweet hollow of Will’s throat. He smells like a life well-lived. It’s more than Hannibal could ask for.

“I’m tired now, my darling.”

Will holds him fast. “I know.” Then he pulls away just enough for Hannibal to look into the sea-green of his eyes. The waters are calm. “I’ll see you there.”

He kisses Hannibal again, full and fierce. Hannibal’s eyes drift closed. When he opens them, Will is gone.

Exhaling, Hannibal reaches one shaking hand to touch the remains of Will’s last creation alone, his first declaration of love. His heart is so full it strains painfully under his ribs.

He lets his cane fall to the floor and stands at his full height.

“I’m ready,” he says.

The dragonfly beats its wings.

**Author's Note:**

> if you need a hug, I have one for you.  
> always tumbling at [lovecrimevariations](http://lovecrimevariations.tumblr.com)


End file.
